Overture
Starlight Express begins with a child's voice in the darkness, announcing that 'tonight is race night'. What happens next depends on the production; broadly, there have been 2 different opening sequences used in various productions of the show. In one version – used in the original London production and in various incarnations of the show in Bochum – the orchestra plays a short overture suggesting that the child (Control) has fallen asleep. Onstage, shadowy figures emerge and skate around the auditorium. The music builds and segues directly into Rolling Stock. In the other version – introduced on Broadway and rolled out to most productions beginning in 1992 – Control is interrupted by their mother. She orders them to bed, but when the bedroom door closes, Control immediately resumes the game, introducing the engines that will compete in the championship. In 2018, the Bochum production brought both versions together, with the sweeping orchestral music interrupted by Control as they resume the play. London 1984 original version As the audience has been coming in to the auditorium, toy train sets have been running back and forth in certain parts of the set. As the house lights dim, the lights and sounds of these models becomes more prominent. Control is playing with their toy trains. They announce that it is "race night" and that all trains go to 'racing mode'. However, Control nods off still giving out orders. As Control starts to dream, the rattling of the toy trains stops and they turn off, to be replaced by shadowy figures emerging from the same spots we last saw toy trains. Musically, the overture signifies Control falling asleep, the sleepy repetition of "all Change" shows us losing consciousness, then we are introduced to the "Starlight Express" melody, initially played unaccompanied, then it repeats at different modulations, starting so quietly, building with more instrumentation, until a fully orchestrated repetition, which then leads towards something truly magical, about to happen - when we get run over by a Diesel train! The rock beat of Rolling Stock interrupts the beautiful dreamscape conjured by the repeated melody, which we won't hear resolved until the Starlight Sequence. Lyrics 1992 revisions Control announces that it is Race Night and that it's the most important night in the history of the world. They then proceed with a countdown which starts a race. This is interrupted by Control's mom, who tells them to get to bed. Then she sings "Starlight Express" as a lullaby. But when she leaves, Control sneaks back to the trains and proceeds with "Entry of the National Engines". The 1993 "new" London cast recording remixes the opening, combining commentary from the first heat with Control's opening lines - this does not reflect the performance. Broadway This version has also been modified slightly for the Japanese/Australian Tour and, for some time, the Bochum production. This version omits the orchestral overture, and leads straight into "Entry of the National Engines" Control is announcing that it is Race Night and gets excited over which train will win. However, their playtime gets cut short when their mother tells them to get to bed. Then she sings "Starlight Express" as a lullaby. But when she leaves, Control sneaks back to the trains and proceeds with "Entry of the National Engines". Lyrics Bochum The German Production has used both the long and short versions of the overture, but the original version used the long version with the skate-round, rather than having "Entry of the National Engines" at the very beginning of the show. Control's Mother tells Control to go to sleep, and sings the "Starlight Express" melody as a lullaby, at which point Control falls asleep and the dream-scape music begins. 2004 UK Tour The 2004 UK Tour used a slight variation on this script. 2017 Workshop The workshop added a few lines of dialogue and sound effects to clarify what's happening. Commentary Using the Overture arguably makes clear the fact that the show is Control's dream. It relies on the visual effect of the characters appearing from all over the set to accompany the music and to create a dreamlike mood. Leading directly into Entry of the National Engines creates a more immediate, fact-filled mood as we learn the names of each National Engine. It also suggests that the entire show is not a dream, but the child's play. Category:Songs